I wrote a blog post and spent weeks in editing hell, trying to have ChatGPT and Claude and Grok help me understand how to make it better. Then I decided to buy the course and today I finally hit the publish button. Thank you, @Shani Raja. I still used LLMs, but this time I gave them specific tasks, one step after the other, following the course's editing framework. This worked much, much better but there's still a lot that the tools just don't catch. I tell them we need to get rid of a repeated word and they suggest switching it to another one that's also already present in the paragraph. I'm very excited about the prompting with AI book to learn how to do it better.

A lot goes through your mind when you're told you have terminal cancer and could have as little as 18 months to live. "What should I do with my remaining time?" "What treatments should I do to prolong my life?" "How shall I say goodbye to those I love?" I'll say more in my coming memoir about my rollercoaster cancer journey. Today, after receiving the all-clear for the third year in a row, I wanted to pay tribute to those who offered their unconditional support to me, as I faced the biggest and scariest challenge of my life. Without their backing, I might not be here with you today. Among those unsung heroes was @Jeffery Wang, whom I first met in a professional capacity. Years earlier, Jeffery had founded the Professional Development Forum, a nonprofit aimed at giving a leg up to struggling young Sydney professionals. It was a labour of love that inspired many, including myself, to support him. After my diagnosis with "stage four" bowel cancer, Jeffery didn't flinch. He treated me as though I was just as alive, as relevant, and as worthwhile as I'd always been, even when I'd begun to doubt it myself. Jeffery met me for lunches, connected me with others, and carried on inviting me to social events, as he'd always done. Looking back, I believe that love like Jeffery's (and there are many more people I could mention, including several in this community, whose compassion I'll never forget) contributed as much to my recovery as any medicine, surgery or treatment. So, when Jeffery asked me to be a guest on his podcast, 10 Lessons Learned, to discuss my health journey, and other significant life events, I was only too happy to oblige. In fact, I'd secretly been waiting for the opportunity to share the big life lessons I'd learned after everything I'd been through. The 10 Lessons format gave me the opportunity to present these discoveries in a concise, logical, and engaging format. Jeffery, of course, was the perfect host. He was curious, sincere, gracious, and generous. This is the fruit of our conversation:

For those who missed our live session with Buffett’s Early Investments author Brett Gardner, here are the biggest takeaways on going from non-writer to published, well-reviewed author. (The full recording is now in the Classroom under "Elite Group Calls"!) 1. Strong research isn’t enough — you need strong storytelling. Brett’s early drafts were fact-rich but read like textbooks. “I would just throw out facts and then summarise… it was boring and dry,” he said. The breakthrough came when he learned to structure chapters as compelling narratives instead of information dumps. 2. Make the whole book hang together. A nonfiction book needs an overarching idea that threads through every chapter. Brett identified four big lessons about Buffett’s evolution and made sure each chapter tied back to at least one of them. “It became an actual book rather than 10 disconnected case studies,” he noted. 3. Open with real drama. In the preface, Brett challenged a popular belief about Buffett. That contrarian spark set the tone and gave the whole book a charge. “I started off by confronting a myth head-on — it gave the reader a reason to keep going.” 4. Lead the reader from one paragraph to the next. He learned to add short “bridge” sentences at the ends of paragraphs to carry readers smoothly into the next point. This small tweak multiplied readability. “Sometimes just one sentence can make a paragraph ten times more readable,” he said. 5. Show, don’t just tell. Brett put readers inside the action — like walking through rival Baltimore department stores — so they could see, hear, and feel the competitive tension. “You’re trying to put somebody in downtown Baltimore inside those stores… that imagery pulls them in,” he explained. 6. Seek tough, trusted feedback. Brett sent drafts to respected industry figures, then worked intensively with a writing coach (hi 👋) to rebuild weak sections. He welcomed direct criticism without ego. “You have to be willing to hear ‘your writing needs work’ and not take it personally.”

1. Which is the best edit? Original: The reason why she resigned was because she wanted to spend more time with her family. a) She resigned because she wanted to spend more time with her family. b) She resigned for the reason that she wanted to spend more time with her family. c) She resigned so she could have the opportunity to spend more time with her family. 2. What’s the main problem here? The manager emphasised the need for better communication between team members, noting that communication was the key to project success. a) Overuse of jargon b) Excessive use of passive voice c) Word echoes 3. Which has smoother flow? a) She picked up the phone. She dialled the number. She waited. b) She picked up the phone, dialled the number, and waited. ANSWERS: 1. a) She resigned because she wanted to spend more time with her family. - Cuts redundancy (“the reason why… was because”) while preserving meaning. - Option b replaces redundancy with formality, which doesn’t improve the sentence. - Option c adds unnecessary padding. 2. c) Word echoes - “Communication” appears twice in close succession, creating a clunky rhythm and making the prose feel lazy. - Repetition can be powerful when deliberate — but here it’s accidental and dulls the sentence. 3. b) She picked up the phone, dialled the number, and waited. - Combining short actions into a single sentence prevents a staccato rhythm that can feel mechanical. - Flow often comes from knowing when to link actions to create a graceful progression.

Welcome to the Elite Writing Academy! My name is Shani Raja. I'm a former Wall Street Journal editor, and I'll be teaching you how to write with impeccable style and flair. In this community, you'll experience rapid growth in refining your writing capabilities alongside others. Inside the classroom, you'll have access to all of my flagship writing programs that have transformed the way many of my clients and students write. Below this post, I'd love for you to introduce yourself to the community and me. Feel free to share where you're from, what you're working on, and your goals inside the Elite Writing Academy! You can even attach a photo of yourself or your workspace! Complete these 3 steps to get started within the Elite Writing Academy! 1️⃣ Introduce yourself in the comments below! (You can see my example in the comments). 2️⃣ Comment on someone else's post! 3️⃣ Head over to the Elite Writing Classroom and start your first training module. My goal with the Elite Writing Academy is to grow the world's #1 writing community, full of valuable resources and writers ranging from beginners to industry leaders. Tip: Download the Skool app to your phone and pin this community to the top to avoid missing updates. By engaging with this community, you unlock more bonuses and materials. Let's keep the community insightful. If you have any questions, insights, strategies, or learnings you'd like to share with the community, create a post! Welcome again, my friend. I'm looking forward to seeing you around the community! ✌️